I’ve spent the majority of my time over the past few years exploring late 16th century working class Italian clothing, as depicted by Campi. For this project, I decided to go about a hundred years earlier than that, and explore the working-class women in Domenico Ghirlandaio’s frescoes at the Tournabuoni Chapel: specifically ‘Birth of St. John the Baptist’ and ‘Birth of St. Mary’. Although these are religious/allegorical scenes, the clothing matches the style of the mid-late 1480’s, when these frescoes were completed.
I decided to start with the gamurra. Since there is no evidence for boned bodices in Italy at this point, my goal is to make this dress without the use of a corded corset or inner layer. I started out with my trusty Gothic Fitted Dress pattern. I started out by cutting out my lining and interlining pieces – three layers of 5.3 oz linen.
I machine quilted two layers of linen together to act as a supportive interlining:
Putting it together: I ended up having to take the side seams in quite a bit (which was a nice surprise), and tweaked the center front to get better bust support. With this style, it’s best to fit the underbust fairly tight, to support the bust – but let the fabric skim over the torso below that. The bust should be supported and rounded, not squished.
....then apparently I stopped taking progress photos. Add outer fabric, eyelets, skirt, sleeves, hem, and finishing touches, and we have a dress!
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